Review: Turning Point, Delhi

Delhi Cantonment, or Delhi Cantt. as it is more commonly known, is famous for two things. One, for being the base for various Defense Services’s staff and offices and second for Aggarwal Sweet’s Lassi (butter milk, which has fans all across Delhi since many years now). Except for these two things, we haven’t heard much about the place and we too pass through the area but haven’t noticed any happening place to unwind or eat. However, since a couple of months some friends and acquaintances had been raving about a restaurant located there. The name of the restaurant they mentioned was Turning Point located in Gopinath Bazaar, Delhi Cantt.

So, last Sunday evening we decided to check out the place ourselves. After all, where there is a mention of good food, Wicked Spoon confessions is bound to visit the place! Well, read on to know if our friends were right and if we were able to satisfy our palate.

The restaurant is strategically located at the main turning point of the Gopinath market and that’s why the name-simple yet impressive! At the restaurant, we easily found a table for ourselves as the restaurant had a spacious table layout.

The ambience at the restaurant was pleasant and it had a big projector screen showing some Hindi music channel for the guests’ entertainment.

The restaurant’s menu was quite exhaustive and the server informed us that we could order for South Indian starters and main course at the ground floor and the North Indian and Chinese food is served at the upper level. We ordered for a Chicken 65 and Mushroom Masala for starters. To complement the starters, we also ordered for their special fruit punch.

Clockwise: Fruit Punch, Mushroom Masala and Chicken 65

The starters proved our friends right. The fruit punch was delightful and pleasant. The mushroom masala was prepared well. It had just the right flavors, without going overboard with the spices. However, the highlight was the Chicken 65. We won’t be wrong if I say that it was one of the best Chicken 65 preparations we had tasted in a long time. It was cooked to perfection and had the appropriate tanginess and spices for giving that yum feel! We gobbled up the starters and started browsing through the menu for selecting the South Indian main course.

With the very interesting menu in front of us, we thought of experimenting a bit and ordered for Andhra Mutton, Malabar Prawn Curry and Malabar Paranthas. We also ordered non-alcoholic Mojitos from their mocktail section. (Unfortunately, Turning Point doesn’t serve alcoholic drinks).

The Mojitos arrived in style with some pleasant garnishing, especially of some large mint twigs, followed by the main course.

Left: Clockwise: Malabar Parantha, Malabar Prawn Curry and Andhra Mutton, Right: Mojito

The mojito was extremely refreshing and we did not miss the non-alcoholic taste in it. The mutton and prawn curry were worth the risk we took and we were glad that our experiment did not backfire. The biggest risk of sea food in places far off from sea (like Delhi) is that it tends to be stale. However, the prawns did not taste stale at all and were very delicious to the palate. We would suggest that if you are at Turning Point and in a mood to order something different from the regular dishes, go for both these dishes without any hesitation.

Next, we decided to try out the North Indian and Chinese specialties at Turning Point’s first floor (hey don’t gasp; we are big time foodies and have a huge appetite :)

The restaurant at the upper level was much more spacious than the ground floor and had a better ambience too.

We started off with the almonds and broccoli soup. The soup was a good appetizer and we really liked its texture and flavor.

Left: Almonds and Brocolli Soup
Right: Clockwise: Smoked Chilly Chicken, Fried Rice and Four Treasure Vegetables

Now was another difficult task of selecting the dishes for the main course. After a bit of browsing through the menu, we selected Paneer Lababdar, Malai Kofta, Rogan Josh and Royale Murg Makhani (boneless) from the North Indian menu and Four Treasure Vegetables in Black Bean Sauce and Smoked Chilli Chicken from the Chinese menu along with assorted breads.

Clockwise:  Rogan Josh, Malai Kofta and Murgh Makhani

Finally, we came to the end of the feast. We had a wonderful time at Turning Point and the rave reviews that we had been hearing were totally correct. Out of all dishes that we had, we cannot point out any dish that had a mediocre or average taste.

Verdict: Turning Point is a nice and cozy family restaurant with wonderful staff. The high point of the restaurant is a very exhaustive menu and its equally awesome food. If you love to eat and keep searching for some restaurants that serve excellent food, you must try out Turning Point. It is conveniently located in Delhi Cantonment and has ample free parking space in front. So, the next time you plan to eat out, do give this place a shot! The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and takes orders till 11 PM. Average cost for two at the restaurant should be around Rs. 600/- to 800/-.

Happy gorging! :)